Free The China Pandemic by A R Shaw

without seeming to threaten them. Still, she remembered her defense weapon in her right hand and thrust her ruler out at the dog. He sat again on his haunches, panting and tilting his head.
    “Get back!” Macy yelled.
    Looking confused, the dog lowered his head down to the pavement, as if to show he meant no harm. Then he huffed and lay still, though he never took his gaze from them.
     
    “Stay!” Macy yelled. She’d heard other people order their dogs to do that, and when she’d told the animal to stay back, he’d done so. She pushed herself up and off her sister as she stood. Her ruler shook with the adrenaline rush.
    The dog rolled over to his side.
    Totally bewildered by this reaction, Macy reached behind her to help Marcy up to her feet.
    “I think it’s okay, Marcy,” she said, “He’s not trying to eat us.”
    “Don’t trust him, Macy. He could just be playing and then turn on us,” Marcy warned.
    As if she just remembered her ice scraper, she looked around where they’d fallen to find it. Seeing it several feet away, she watched the dog cautiously while she reached for it. He did not move a muscle, only watched her movements with his eyes.
    Macy, seeing this, decided to take a chance and reached over with her left hand to let him smell her. Her dad taught her to do it this way, when approaching animals you did not know.
    All the while, Marcy’s warnings, continued, “Don’t do it, Mace,” she said.
    The German Shepherd merely studied her hand. He sniffed her, and then licked her. Macy began to pet his head and found that he had a black collar around his neck with a sheriff’s badge hanging down to his chest.
    “Look, he’s a police dog,” she said, holding up a badge for Marcy to see, then continued to pet the dog.
    “Maybe that’s why he has not turned mean,” Marcy said.
    Macy noticed he had bite marks on his haunches and as she ran her hand over chest, his ribs stood out. “No wonder he’s panting a lot, he’s thirsty. Let’s see if we can find him some water,” Macy said.
    “Come on, Sheriff, do you have water in the car?” she asked him as she got up. He rose from the pavement, trotted over to the open doorway of the car, and whined a little before the dead officer.
    “Oh, sorry, Sheriff, is he your owner?” Macy asked.
    The dog just sat down on his haunches as if hoping the girls could help his owner. Catching on first, Marcy said, “He wants us to help him.”
    “Oh, so sorry, Sheriff, he’s gone. We can’t help him now,” Macy said. She looked into the back seat window and noticed a gray blanket on the seat. Slowly reaching in, she pulled it out, unfolded it and showed Sheriff as she draped the blanket over the decomposing body of his former owner. Then Sheriff lay down on the pavement in front of the doorway and rested his head on his paws again. Macy stroked his fur, because she knew his sadness and felt sorry for the dog.
    Turning to Marcy, she said, “I think we should try to see if that car is available instead. If not, we’ll have to move this guy and I don’t think Sheriff would like that very much. What do you think?”
    Macy agreed with a nod. It was stupid to take a chance of aggravating the dog. They walked over to the other car across the road. There were no occupants alive or otherwise. Quickly, they searched for the keys and found them on the passenger seat. Macy offered the keys to Marcy, who said, “Your turn. You’ll find out it’s not so easy.”
    By this time, the sun began to go down. Marcy noticed it first and said, “It’s going to be dark soon, so we really need to hurry up.”
    They opened the doors and the trunk to see if the owners left any water. Luckily, in the trunk they discovered a half empty flat of Kirkland brand water bottles. Macy took two out and walked over to the dog once more, opened one of them and offered it to him using the palm of her hand. It tickled her hand terribly with his rough tongue as he slurped it down easily,